System and method for product display, arrangement and rotation

ABSTRACT

A device, system, and method for manually arranging products on a display shelf. A plastic ridged base may be cut to a desired display shelf width along preformed notches and then be placed on the display shelf. Excess base width may serve as a rear backing element to support row partitions. The ridges support merchandise and permit a pull member to rest between ridges. The pull member may be manually pulled to bring merchandise to the front of a row. The ridges may be universal, or may be of specific dimensions for items such as soup cans or baby food jars. Narrow base sections may be extruded and snapped together to form a desired base unit width. A spring or elastic active alignment device may be used on the base to move display items forward on a shelf.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationsNo. 10/392,162 filed March 18, 2003 and claims priority from thatapplication.

This application is related to U.S. provisional patent applications No.60/290,969 filed on May 14, 2002; No. 60/292,441 filed on May 19, 2002;and No. 60/400,976 filed on Jul. 28, 2002; and claims priority fromthose applications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the display, arrangement and rotation ofproducts such as those packaged in bottles, jars, cans, and boxes, andmore particularly to an improved product display, arrangement androtation system and method in which products displayed on a displayshelf can easily be arranged or rotated to have the products' expirationdates kept safely up to date and to conveniently position the productsmanually near the front edge of the shelves for improved visual exposureand effortless selection by consumers.

2. Description of Related Art

Retail stores relying on the consumers to serve themselves haverecognized the importance of displaying products near the front edge ofdisplay shelves so that the products can be readily seen by consumersand easily reached by the consumers. Customers typically remove productsfrom the front of a display shelf, and products remaining toward therear of display shelves are often difficult to reach.

Well operated retail stores have clerks move around the storeperiodically to check the status of goods and to make appropriatecorrections by moving products toward the front of display shelves.There is a need to make this alignment process more efficient.

The prior art provides some examples of automated or semi-automatedshelf display alignment.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,438 to applicant describes a system and method forproduct display, arrangement and rotation. That patent includes arelatively fixed side frame which is typically held in place by magneticattraction, and a pull frame attached to a rear member that is used topull product forward on a shelf.

The '438 patent discusses prior art including U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,463 toSteven K. Gold which teaches the use of springs to push items to thefront position on the display shelf; U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,126 to Fosterwhich also uses a ribbon spring arrangement to advance a row of itemsforward; U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,125 to Kunz, which is similar to the '126patent, with the addition of a protective wire grid to prevent a glassjar from falling out of the device; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,546 to Crumwhich also uses a spring mechanism.

Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/918,843 filed Jul. 31, 2001by applicant for “System and method for product display, arrangement androtation” describes a device, system, and method for manually arrangingproducts on a display with two slide rails which fit into the vacantspaces near the bottom of rounded container sides. In an alternateembodiment, a base is provided to elevate a row of containers, and theslide rails slide underneath the containers in the row. The slide railsmay be attached to a rear member which engages the rear of the lastproduct container in the row, and pushes the containers forward as thefront member is pulled away from the display shelf. The device may be awire frame which may include side covers of various shapes and sizes.One embodiment of that base is a set of overlapping single display rows.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The current invention relates to a device, system and method fordisplaying products generally forming a queue on a display surface suchas a display shelf. Several embodiments of the invention relate tosupporting merchandise on a display base.

In one embodiment, the base has a plurality of closely spaced productsupport ridges. The support ridges provide a strengthening of the baseand provide a support surface for merchandise. The valleys between thesupport ridges form recesses for the insertion of row dividers to definerows for the merchandise; and the valleys permit pull members to bepositioned below merchandise.

In this invention, the term ridges refers to elevated elements integralto a display base which support merchandise above the base. The basetypically rests on a shelf such as in a grocery store. Some of thespaces, or valleys, between adjacent ridges permit pull members to beplaced below the merchandise so that merchandise will slide on theridges above the pull member.

The ridges may have a variety of cross sectional shapes includingtriangular, flattened triangular, rounded, rectangular, or stepped. Theridges may include recesses to accept inserted row partitions, or adivider partition may be placed between ridges.

Row dividers may be provided by the ridges themselves, such as with astepped ridge, or may be provided by divider partitions inserted intorecesses in the ridges or between ridges. In some embodiments, the shapeof the ridges is sufficient to separate rows of merchandise withoutadditional partitions. For many types of merchandise which have roundedor indented profiles in the lower portion of the container, a steppedridge profile can be selected to fit into the recess formed betweenadjacent rows of containers, so that row division may be accomplishedwithout requiring the additional shelf width of partition inserts. Forretailers such as grocery stores that have precisely definedmerchandising plans, this aspect of the invention permits the displaybase to be adopted without modification to the merchandising scheme.

The display base may be provided as a universal base such as regularlyspaced rows, or the rows may be specifically designed to accommodate theactual row widths and profiles of particular merchandise. For examplecustom bases may be provided for rows of soup cans or jelly jars; or forrows of stacks of baby food jars. Merchandise is not limited to cans andjars, but may include a variety of shapes.

In one embodiment, the rear portion of the ridges may be marked orscored at one-inch intervals so that the base may be bent to a desiredshelf depth. The ridges are formed so that every other ridge has a scoreline at a particular depth. This alternating scoring of the ridges ISprovides a guide for bending the base to a desired width whilemaintaining a strengthened base.

In one ermbodiment, the base is cut to a desired depth and the flat rearportion of the removed rear section of the base is typically bent to a90-degree angle and positioned below the rear of the display base. Theridges and valleys of the upturned rear portion of the base providevertical support for the rear portion of the row dividers. In thisembodiment, a partition divider typically rests in a selected valleywith the bottom of the divider positioned in the horizontal portion ofthe valley, and the rear portion of the divider positioned in at least aportion of a valley on the upturned rear section.

A pull member such as a strap, a rod, a spring coil, or an elastic bandmay be placed in a channel formed between ridges. The pull member may bemanually pulled outward from the display shelf, or may automaticallykeep merchandise moved toward the front of the display shelf by constantforce such as a spring or elastic band.

Advantages of the current invention include the low cost of the displaybase, such as provided by thermoforming or vacuum molding the base,efficient packaging, and low shipment cost. The base is also very easyto cut to desired size and to install on a shelf without special tools.The base can typically be cut with scissors or a box knife. The basewill work with various display shelf depths, and with various sizes ofmerchandise including product containers such as cans, bottles, andbags.

In one embodiment, the display base includes a plurality of display rowswhich each have a pre-determined width to accommodate a specific size ofproduct container. For instance, in the case of soup cans, the base mayhave a set of rows which are each the same width. In other cases,adjacent rows may have different widths to accommodate different sizedcontainers.

The rows typically have two ridge dividers, one on each side of the row,such that the dividers engage a portion of the lower part of the productcontainers in order to keep the containers in the row.

In one embodiment, the center of each row has a single recess channelwhich holds a pull member. The pull member may be a thin plastic stripwhich is bent upwards at its rear end in order to engage the rearproduct container in the row. In one embodiment the rear of the pullstrap includes a pull plate for engaging the product containers. Thefront end of pull strap typically protrudes slightly from the front ofthe display base so that it may be grasped and pulled outward to alignthe product containers in the row. After alignment, the pull strap isreturned to its resting position with the rear of the strap near therear of the display shelf, and the front of the pull strap protrudingslightly from the front of the shelf. In other embodiments, the pullmember may be a rod, bar, or elastic member.

In another embodiment, two recess channels may be provided in a row, andthe pull device includes two elongated members which rest in thechannel. The rear of the elongated members may be attached to a pullplate to engage the back of the product containers, and the front of themembers may be attached to a handle. The product alignment proceeds asin the single channel embodiment by grasping the handle, pulling thehandle outwards from the display shelf until the containers are aligned,and returning the handle to its rest position.

Inventory, such as restocking is assisted by observing the length of thepull device, which provides a measure of available display space behindthe containers. In this way, the stocker does not need to visuallyobserve the row depth, and the shelve height can be lower than what isrequired for visual inspection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1A is a top view of an embodiment of a display base having one pullchannel per display row.

FIG. 1B is a detailed top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is a cross sectional view of two rows of the display base shownin FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1D is a top perspective view of a pull strap.

FIG. 1E is a top view of the depth adjustment area of the display baseshown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a top view of an embodiment of a display base having ridgeproduct container supports in each display row.

FIG. 2B is a detailed top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C is a cross sectional view of two rows of the display base shownin FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2D is a cross sectional view of another embodiment of two rows ofthe display base shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2E is a cross sectional view of another pull member embodiment oftwo rows of the display base shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A is a top view of an embodiment of a display base having slotsfor placement of divider wall inserts

FIG. 3B is a detailed top view of the base in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3C is a cross section view of the embodiment of FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A is a cross section view of an embodiment for baby food jars.

FIG. 4B is a detailed cross section view of the embodiment of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C is a cross section view of an embodiment for baby food jarsincluding tall row dividers.

FIG. 4D is a perspective view of stacked containers such as baby foodjars.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a pull strap bent upwards behind astack of containers.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a pusher element attached to a pullstrap.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a display section with front stops.

FIG. 8 is a detailed cross section view of an end stop inserted on adisplay base.

FIG. 9A is a top perspective view of an embodiment of a display basehaving a plurality of support ridges with alternating scoring in therear portion of the base.

FIG. 9B is a detailed cross section view of the embodiment shown in FIG.9A further showing insertion of dividers.

FIG. 9C is a detailed cross sectional view of the rear portion of thedisplay base shown in FIG. 9A showing scoring and alternating notchingfor depth adjustment.

FIG. 9D is a top perspective view of the display base of FIG. 9A with arear portion excess removed and attached to the base, with dividersinserted, and with a pull member.

FIG. 9E is a detailed cross section view of the display base of FIG. 9Dshowing the attachment of the rear portion to the base.

FIG. 9F is a detailed cross section view of the display base showing ahinge line.

FIG. 10 is a top perspective view of a display base with pull members, apusher element, and spring pushers.

FIG. 11A is a perspective view of a pusher element with a spring pullmember inserted and engaging the pusher element.

FIG. 11B is a cross section view of a pusher element with a spring pullmember inserted and engaging the pusher element.

FIG. 11C is a perspective view of a pusher element with a pull memberinserted and pushed away from the pusher element.

FIG. 12 is a cross section view of an elastic pull member.

FIG. 13A is a top perspective view of the bottom surface of anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13B is a detailed top perspective view of a snap feature of a firstbase unit of the embodiment of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 13C is a detailed top perspective view of a snap feature of asecond base unit of the embodiment of FIG. 13A.

FIG. 14A is rear perspective view of a front stop element.

FIG. 14B is side view of a front stop element and base unit on a displayshelf.

FIG. 15 is a top perspective view of various types of pull devices usedwith the base unit.

FIG. 16A is a front perspective view of an active alignment device witha spring loaded rear engagement member.

FIG. 16B is a detailed rear perspective view of the rear engagementmember of FIG. 16 a.

FIG. 16C is a detailed side view of the rear engagement member in thedevice of FIG. 16A.

FIG. 16D is a detailed rear perspective view of the front stop.

FIG. 17A is a front perspective view of an active alignment device withan elastic member.

FIG. 18A is a front view of sidewall dividers in a base in a firstconfiguration.

FIG. 18B is a front view of sidewall dividers in a base in a secondconfiguration.

FIG. 18C is a front view of sidewall dividers in a base in a thirdconfiguration.

FIG. 18D is a detailed view of a sidewall divider showing an-offset.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT Display Base and Pull Straps forGrocery Display

Referring now to FIG. 1A which is a top view of an embodiment of thecurrent invention, several containers 80 a-80 i, such as soup cans areplaced in one row 50 of a display base 10. Alternate embodiments supportother sizes of cans, boxes, bags, and loose merchandise.

In this embodiment, the base may be a plastic sheet which may be bent orscored along one of several depth adjustment lines 91-97 at the rear ofthe base. This permits the base to be sized for standard grocery storeshelve depths of 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, or 24 inches. The rear of thebase may be either bent up or may be bent and scored or cut to removethe excess material. The bending is typically performed by laying thebase upside down and backwards on a shelf so that the base may be bentat an appropriate bend line. After bending, the extra base material maybe left in a bent position or may be removed such as by cutting it offwith a box blade.

The channel 40 is defined by the lower portion of the portion of thebase 10 which lies between the support ridges 30. Each row 50 of thebase 10 is defined by a row ridge divider 20 on either side the rows.The divider may be separated from the support ridge as shown in FIG. 1B,or the divider may be integral to the support ridge.

Referring now to FIG. 1B, which is a detailed top view of one side of arow and an adjacent row, the ridge divider 20 may be pyramidal in shape,and the support ridges 30 are raised from the floor of the base.

Referring now to FIG. 1C, which is a cross sectional view of two rows ofthe base, the ridge dividers 20 are shown as triangular cross sectionshaving a angle of approximately 25° from the vertical line bisecting theridge divider, so that the top angle of the ridge dividers is about 50°.The ridges 30 are typically raised about ⅛″ above the top of the channel40. The ridge dividers have an additional height of about {fraction(5/16)}″ above the ridge height, for a total height of about {fraction(9/16)}″. In this case the rows are sized for soup can containers 80 aand 80 b and have a distance between the ridge divider peaks of 2⅝″. Inthis embodiment, each row further comprises a ridge 30 on each side ofthe row. The ridges 30 form a channel 40 which is used to support a pullstrap 200. The channel 40 permits a pull member such as a pull strap torest underneath the product containers 80 a-80 b until the front of thepull member is grasped and pulled away from the shelf in order to bringthe rearmost containers forward and align the containers toward thefront of the shelf on the display base 10.

Referring now to FIG. 1D, which is a top perspective view of a pullstrap 200, the pull strap is typically about 26 inches long, and may becut to a shorter length. It is typically fabricated of a plasticmaterial in a color similar or complimentary to the color of the base.The front end 201 of the pull strap may be bent upward to provide agrasping point in order to pull the strap forward. Typically, the rearof the pull strap maybe bent upward in order to engage the rear of theproduct containers. In other embodiments, the rear of a pull member maybe connected to a larger rear container engagement member.

Referring now to FIG. 1E, which is a top view of the depth adjustmentarea of the display base, from the rear 90 of the product base there area series of lines, preferably at 1″ intervals. These lines 91, 92, 93,94, 95 permit the base unit to be bent or cut to a desired width. Thesedepth adjustment lines 91-95 are formed by interrupting the ridge 30 andthe divider 20 so that the base may be folded or cut in a straight lineacross at the desired depth. The lines 91-95 permit the appropriatedepth, such as grocery to be selected. Typically the base unit is laidon the shelf backwards, bent at the front edge in a downward motion andthen the excess material may be cut such as with a box blade knife. Inother embodiments, the depth adjustment lines may be alternated betweenridges in order to strengthen the base. In other embodiments, a flatportion of the base is provided at the rear of base so that the removedportion may be bent and inserted so that the flat portion rests beneaththe display base.

Alternate Ridge Arrangement

Referring now to FIG. 2A, another embodiment provides a base 12 with aplurality of rows 52 defined by row ridge dividers 20 a and 20 b asshown in more detail in FIG. 2C.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, which is a detailed view of a row dividerridge and support ridges, the outer ridge 32 and the inner ridge 34define a recess 33.

Referring now to FIG. 2C, which is a detailed cross sectional view oftwo rows, each row of this embodiment is defined by a first row ridgedivider 20 a and a second row ridge divider 20 b. Each row includes apair of outer ridges 32 a and 32 b, and a pair of inner ridges 34 a and34 b. A center channel 35 is formed between the inner ridges 34 a and 34b.

One advantage of multiple ridges is a rib strengthening effect. A secondadvantage of a center channel 35 is that the center channel maytypically be ⅞″ wide to provide room for a ¾″ wide pull strap to residein the channel. As in the previous embodiment, the containers 80 a and80 b reside on the ridges 32 a-b and 34 a-b which support the containersoff the base so that the pull strap may be placed in the center recessedchannel 35. The ridge dividers 20 a-b keep the containers in the row,and prevent the containers from moving laterally. In this embodiment,the first ridge 32 a has a preferred width of about 0.5 inches.

In many cases, row divider ridges 20 a and 20 b may be designed to fitinto the recesses between adjacent rows of merchandise. This type of rowdivision is often desirable in order to conserve valuable shelf space.

In some embodiments these channels between the inner and outer ridgesupport two-rail pull devices. Referring now to FIG. 2D, which is across section view of a two-rail pull device positioned in a row of abase, channel 33 a is located between the left outside ridge 32 a andthe left inner ridge 34 a. The left rail 205 a of a two-rail pull memberis positioned in the left channel 33 a. Channel 33 b is located betweenthe right outside ridge 32 b and the right inner ridge 34 b. The rightrail 205 b of a two-rail pull member is positioned in the right channel33 b. The two-rail pull member typically includes a rear engagementsection such as a plate or bent rails, and a front pull handleconnecting the rails.

Referring now to FIG. 2E, which is a cross section view of an alternatetwo-rail pull device positioned in a row of a base, channel 36 a islocated between the left outside ridge 32 a and the left ridge 20 a. Theleft rail 205 a of a two-rail pull member is positioned in the leftchannel 36 a. Channel 36 b is located between the right outside ridge 32b and the right ridge divider 20 b. The right rail 205 b of a two-railpull member is positioned in the right channel 36 b.

Divider Wall Inserts

Referring now to FIG. 3A, another embodiment of the base unit providesfor placement of divider wall inserts 23 into the divider recesses.Multiple rows 54 are provided in the base unit 14. As shown in FIG. 3B,each row includes ridges 32 a and 32 b on either side of the rowdividers 22, and includes a recess 24 for the placement of a dividerwall insert 23. This arrangement enables the base unit to be fabricatedand the inserts to be chosen depending upon the anticipated productcontainer height or stacked height. In other embodiments, the dividermay be flattened and serve as a support ridge, so that additional ridgesare not required for the container support.

Referring now to FIG. 3C which is a cross section of the embodiment ofFIG. 3A, the row 54 includes a center channel 40 defined by ridges 32 aand 32 b on either side of the channel. The containers 80 also reside ona flat portion of the ridge dividers 22. The ridge dividers 22 include arecess 24 for receiving a divider wall insert 23. In one embodiment, thedistance between the divider wall inserts 23 is 2⅜″ to accommodate soupcans. The divider wall inserts for soup cans are preferably ⅜″ tall with⅛″ residing in the gap 24, and an additional ¼″ extending above the topof the ridge divider 22. The top width of the ridges 32 a and 32 b istypically ¼″ with a ¼″ gap between the ridge dividers 22 and the ridges32. Eight rows of soup cans may be provided in a base having an overallwidth of approximately 21.94″ inches, which leaves a small base area oneither side for placement of an overlapping unit in order to extend theoverall width of the display bases.

Baby Food Jar Display

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, which is an embodiment specificallyfor baby food jars 81 a-81 c, rows 50 are provided having a width of2{fraction (5/16)}″. The rows include pull strap channels 40 to permit apull strap 200 to be placed under rows of product container 81 b. Thebaby food jars are supported above the pull strap channel 40 with raisedsupport ridges 30 which have a preferred height of about ⅛″. The pullstrap is preferably ¾″ wide and 0.050″ thick, and is made of a plasticsuch as PVC. The support ridges have a width of ¼″ and the recessedchannel 40 has a width of ⅞″ to accommodate a ¾″ wide pull strap. Theridge dividers 20 have a peak angle of 50°, which represents 25° oneither side of a vertical through the apex of the peak. The height ofthe ridge divider 20 is preferably {fraction (7/16)}″. In thisembodiment, the ridge dividers are positioned in the space created bythe rounded bottom of the baby food jars. In one embodiment, ten rows ofbaby food containers are provided on a base having an overall width of23⅛″. The edges of this display base are flat, so that additional baseunits may be placed in an overlapping manner over the end ridge dividerin order to extend the overall width of the display base.

Referring now to FIG. 4C, an alternate arrangement for baby food jars isshown. The center channel 40 and pull strap 200 are defined as before.The ridge dividers in this embodiment include a recess 24 which mayreceive a tall divider 23 which may be approximately 6″ high in order toprevent a stack of three baby jars from collapsing to one side.Alternate tall divider partition heights may be used for alternatecontainer stack heights.

Referring now to FIG. 4D, which is a perspective view of stackedcontainers such as baby food jars, the tall dividers 23 are shown placedin the divider recess 24. Stacks of product containers 82 a-82 c hereare shown at the rear of the display rows 50 and may be pulled forward.In one embodiment, the pull strap is simply bent upwards to form a rearproduct engagement member 202 (as detailed in FIG. 5). In anotherembodiment, the rear section of the pull strap is connected to a pusherelement 260 in order to engage the stack of containers (as detailed inFIG. 6). The containers may be placed within rows with or withoutdivider inserts 23.

Pull Strap

Referring now to FIG. 5A, which is a cross sectional view of a stack ofcontainers such as baby food jars, the rear of the pull strap unit 202may be bent upward in order to engage the stack of containers.Alternately, a separate pusher element 260 may be attached to the pullstrap. The front of the pull strap 201 is bent upward slightly in orderto provide a grasping point to pull the product container rows forward.After the units have been pulled to the front of the shelf, the pullstrap may be pushed back into the position so that the rear is near therear of the shelf and the front bend 201 is near the front edge of thedisplay base.

Pull Strap with Pusher Element

Referring now to FIG. 6, which is a perspective view of the attachmentof a pusher element 260 to a pull strap 200, the strap may be placedthrough notch 262 (not shown) on the back stop and then the pull strapmay be bent forward.

Overlapping Base Sections

The display base may be provided in a length which will accommodateseveral rows of merchandise. Display base sections may be partiallyoverlapped to extend the base length on a shelf. In other embodiments,display sections may be arranged side-by-side without overlapping.

Front Stops

Referring now to FIG. 7, which is a perspective view of a section of ababy food jar display, a front stop 300 is provided in order to restrainproduct containers from being accidentally pulled out of their displayrow.

Referring now to FIG. 8, which is a cross section view of a section of afront stop inserted on a display shelf, the stop 300 may clip onto thefront portion of the shelf 9.

In one embodiment, the front stop is molded with the base as a hollowwall section. This double wall arrangement provides additional strengthto the stop. A slot 302 (not shown) is cut in the rear wall of the stop,and a larger opening 304 is cut in the front of the stop. A pull strap200 is placed through the front and rear openings.

In another embodiment, the front stop may be a single wall which ismolded with the base unit.

In another embodiment, the front stop may be fabricated separately andthen attached to the base unit as a single stop or as a row of stops.

Display Base

Referring now to FIG. 9A which is a top perspective view of anembodiment of a display base 16 having a plurality of support ridges 38with alternating scoring in the rear portion 17 b of the base, thedisplay base has a plurality of ridges 38. The ridges reinforce thebase, which may be a relatively thin plastic molded or thermoformedsheet. The ridges also support merchandise to be displayed such asgrocery cans, boxes, bottles, or sacks.

Referring now to FIG. 9B, which is a detailed cross section view of theembodiment shown in FIG. 9A, dividers 26 may be inserted between baseridges 38 in order to create desired product display rows. In thisfigure a display row is defined as the area between the first divider 26a and the second divider 26 b.

Referring now to FIG. 9C, which is a detailed cross sectional view ofthe rear portion of the display base shown in FIG. 9A, the ridges arenotched to facilitate cutting the base to a desired shelf depth. In oneembodiment, the base includes lateral scoring at the base of the notchesso that the base may be more easily bent or cut to a desired depth.

In this embodiment, the notches are made on every other ridge in analternating fashion. For instance, the first ridge, and otherodd-numbered ridges, may be notched at intervals of 18″, 20  and 22″from the front edge, notches 39 a, 39 b, and 39 c respectively; whilethe ridge and even-numbered ridges may be notched at 19″, 21″, and 23″from the front edge of the base, notches 39 f, 39 e, and 39 crespectively. For instance, if the base were to be cut, 20″ from thefront edge, the base would be bent along the 20″ notches 39 b andcorresponding score line and then cut. The notches provide a cuttingguide across the base. In this embodiment, the base includes a flat rearportion 17 b which may be removed along with the extra ridge length whenthe base is cut to the desired depth. The removed portion of the basemay be bent and positioned at the rear of the remaining base so that theflat portion rests under the rear of the remaining base.

Referring now to FIG. 9D, which is a top perspective view of the displaybase of FIG. 9A with a rear portion excess of the base removed andattached to the base, with dividers inserted, and with a pull member.The rear support section 60 is formed by attaching the cut off portionof the base to rear edge of the shortened base. The rear sectionincludes ridges such as 61 a, 61 b which support the divider.

Referring now to FIG. 9F, which is a detailed cross section view of aportion of the rear of the display base, a hinge line 17 c may beincluded to facilitate bending the rear portion 17 b with respect to thefront section 17 a of the base.

Referring now to FIG. 10, which shows a variety of pull schemes for thedisplay base 16, the base may include pull members such as pull straps200, springs 270, or elastic bands. FIGS. 11A and 11B shows a pullmember including a pull strap 200 which pulls a rear engagement member260 forward as the pull strap is pulled forward. FIG. 11C shows a spring270 coiled behind a rear engagement member. FIG. 12 shows an elasticband 280 with a rear engagement member 260. The band may be secured bytie points 282 b at the rear of the shelf and 282 a on the pusherelement.

Extruded Display Base

FIG. 13A is a top perspective view of the bottom surface of anembodiment of an extruded plastic display base 16 having a plurality ofsupport ridges 38. In one embodiment the width of the extruded basesections is 4-5 inches. In other embodiments, various section widthsnarrower or wider than the 4-5 inches may be used as desired. Theseembodiments are not limited to extrusion manufacturing, but extrusion istypically a low cost method of manufacturing such units in high volume.A manufactured width is typically selected as a tradeoff betweenextrusion mold costs and the desired application.

Several of the units are typically arranged in an overlapping fashion ona display shelf. The base units may include a lock joint on one or bothend rows such that the offset allows one base section to snap ontoanother base section. FIG. 13B is a detail of one embodiment of a lockjoint 400 which snaps over a corresponding lock joint 401 in FIG. 13C. Aplurality of these modules may be overlapped in this manner in order tocover a wide display shelf.

The base unit may further include dado or similar cuts 405 in the bottomof the front portion to accept a front stop that can snap into positionon the base.

Referring now to FIG. 14A, which is a detail of a front stop 410, andFIG. 14B which is a side view detail, the front stop may include avertical retaining member 411 which may include a vertical cutoutsection 412 to accept a pull member (not shown), a horizontal legsection 413 which may include a cutout section 414 to accept the pullmember and a rear base engagement lip 416 which nests in the cutoutportion of the bottom base ridges 405.

The base unit may also include cuts 420 at intervals along the in thebottom rear of the base to facilitate cutting the base to a desiredshelf depth as discussed in the examples above.

Referring now to FIG. 15, various types of pull devices as illustratedby 430 and 440 may be employed in cooperation with the base. The pullunits typically include a handle or front section 431, 441 that may begrasped by a user, at least one elongated member 432, 442 which may bepositioned within or substantially within a trough of the base section,and a rear engagement member 433, 443. The rear engagement member may bea bent-upwards portion of the elongated member 443, or may include aplate 433 or additional element affixed to the rear of the elongatedmember.

Spring Tensioned Rear Member

In some embodiments, a spring or elastic member may be used to provide aforce to assist in drawing items toward the front of a display row.

Referring now to FIG. 16A which is a front perspective view of an activealignment device comprising a housing spring and rear engagementembodiment, the rear engagement section 450 may permit a pull spring 460to push the display row forward relative to the base unit 16. In oneembodiment, one end of a coiled spring 460 a is held relative to thefront stop 480, and the other coiled end 460 b of the spring is placedbehind the rear pull member 450. The rear engagement section may travelin a channel housing 470 which has a first leg 473 inserted in a firstgroove and a second leg 474 inserted in a second groove of the base 16.

Referring now to FIG. 16B which is a detailed rear perspective view ofthe rear engagement member and FIG. 16C which is a detailed side view,in one embodiment, the rear engagement member 450 includes a first slidemember 451 and a second slide member 452 which travel in channel 471 and472 of the housing. The rear engagement member may include an engagementmember 455 and a spring retention member 456. The spring retentionmember may include a slot 457 for affixing an alternate elastic pullmember.

Referring now to FIG. 16D which is a detailed rear perspective view ofthe front stop 480, the front stop may include projections 482 which canbe inserted into grooves of the base 16, a projection 483 which may beinserted into the housing channels 471 and 472, and a front cover plate481. The front stop may also include a slot 484 for attaching the firstend of a coiled spring or elastic member.

In this example, the active alignment device may have a first slide rail473 which travels in a first trough in the base unit, and a second sliderail 474 which travels in a second trough in the base unit. The pullunit may include a product engagement member 450 spaced apart from aspring engagement member 456. This spaced-apart arrangement providesstability for the rear engagement member. As described above, spring orelastic elements may be provided with a display device to pull forwardproducts arranged in a display row.

Elastic Tensioned Rear Member

In some cases, more force may be required to pull product forward thancan be practically provided with a coil spring and rear sled assembly.Referring now to FIG. 17A which is a front perspective view of an activealignment device with an elastic member an active alignment device 500may be positioned in troughs on the base. In one embodiment the activealignment device 500 includes a slide support frame 470, a front stop480, a rear band anchor 495, an elastic strip 492 or band and a rearengagement member 450 which slides in the slide support frame 470. Theactive alignment device may also include an idler sheave 490 or otherdevice for permitting the elastic band to pull around the front stop. Inone embodiment, the first end 493 of an elastic strip 492 is fixedrelative to the rear band anchor 495. The elastic strip is wrappedpartially around the sheave 490, and the second end of the strip isaffixed to the rear engagement member 495 so that as the elastic stripcontracts the rear engagement member 450 is pulled toward the frontstop. The slide support frame includes a first lower rail section 473which is positioned in a first trough in the base unit and a secondlower rail section 474 which is positioned in a second trough in thebase unit. In this embodiment, the first lower rail section and thesecond lower rail section may be snapped into the base section. In thisembodiment, the elastic strip forces the rear engagement member forwardtoward the front stop, thereby aligning items in the display row.

Referring now to FIG. 18 sidewall divider sections such as 501 and 511may be included with the base. In one embodiment, these dividers have abase portion 502 and 512 which is preferably slightly wider that thetrough width in a base section, such that the base portion may besnapped into place in a trough. In one embodiment, the dividers includea wall section 503 and 513 that is thinner than the width of the baseportion of the divider, and where the wall is attached to the baseportion asymmetrically with respect to the center line of the baseportion. This asymmetry permits a divider to be positioned in a firstposition which is narrower than a second position as indicated by FIGS.18B and 18C. By selecting either the first orientation or the secondorientation for the sidewall divider sections on both sides of a displaychannel 520, the width of the channel can be adjusted to a desireddistance.

For instance, in one embodiment, the base unit has a nominal insidetrough diameter of ⅛″ and trough depth of about ¼ inch, and the sidewalldivider section has a base section width of about ⅛″ to create pressfit, and a wall thickness of about {fraction (1/16)}″. As illustrated inFIG. 18D, a first wall surface 505 of the sidewall divider section 503is substantially flush with the first base section wall 504, so thatthere is an offset distance of about {fraction (1/16)}″ from the secondwall surface 506 to the second base section wall 507. Therefore when thewall is reinserted into the slot in the second orientation, the width ofthe display channel 520 is increased by this offset distance. Forexample in FIG. 18A, the display channel has a first width whichcorresponds to both dividers being inserted in the same orientation. InFIG. 18B, the display channel has a second narrower width whichcorresponds to both dividers being inserted where the offsets areoriented outwards. In FIG. 18C, the display channel has a third widerwidth which corresponds to both dividers being inserted where theoffsets are oriented inwards.

These embodiments are examples of the invention and its is evident thatthose skilled in the art can make variations without departing from theinventive concepts, and the invention should be limited solely by thespirit and scope of the claims.

1. A product display base for use in manually aligning merchandise on adisplay shelf, the display base comprising a plurality of overlappingsections each section comprising: a bottom surface, such that thedisplay base may be placed on the display shelf, and at least a portionof the bottom surface is in contact with the display shelf; a frontedge; a first side edge; a second side edge; a rear edge; a plurality ofmerchandise support ridges, including a first merchandise support ridgeand a second merchandise support ridge, such that the merchandisesupport ridges extend from the proximity of the front edge to theproximity of the rear edge; and at least one pull member channel locatedbetween the first merchandise support ridge and the second merchandisesupport ridge, such that a portion of a pull member may be placed in thechannel under merchandise supported by the first merchandise supportridge and the second merchandise support ridge
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 30. (canceled)31. The product display base of claim 1 further comprising a front stopelement which may be positioned in proximity to the front edge of thedisplay base, the front stop element comprising a front retentionmember, such that the front retention member may engage an item on thedisplay base to prevent the item from inadvertently being pushed orpulled off of the front of the display base; a base attached to thefront retention member and positioned under the display base; and aretaining lip integral to the base, such that the retaining lip engagesslots provided in the bottom portions of a plurality of support ridgeson the display base.
 32. The product display base of claim 1 furthercomprising a first snap feature along the first side edge; and a secondsnap feature along the second side edge, such that the first snapfeature of a first base section may snap over the second snap feature ofa second base section.
 33. The product display base of claim 1 whereinthe first and second support ridges at least partially supportmerchandise in a first row; there is a third merchandise support ridge,such that the second ridge is positioned between the first ridge and thethird ridge, and the third ridge at least partially supports merchandisein a second row; and there is at least one row partition insert, suchthat the row partition insert is inserted between the second ridge andthe third ridge in order to separate the first row and the second row.34. A product display system comprised of a display shelf; a pluralityof partially overlapping display base sections, each display basesection comprising a bottom surface, such that the display base may beplaced on the display shelf, and at least a portion of the bottomsurface is in contact with the display shelf, a front edge, a first sideedge, a second side edge, a rear edge, and a plurality of ridgescomprising a first ridge extending from the proximity of the front edgeto the proximity of the rear edge; a second ridge extending from theproximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rear edge; at leastone pull member channel located between the first ridge and the secondridge, such that products may be placed in the row and a portion of apull member may be placed in the channel under the products, and theproduct containers may be pulled toward the front edge of the displayshelf by pulling the pull member which engages the rearmost product andpulls the row of products forward while the products are laterallyconfined within the row by the first ridge and the second ridge; aplurality of pull members; and a first merchandise item positioned in afirst row and a second merchandise item positioned in a second row, suchthat the second row is adjacent to the first row, and such that thesecond ridge provides a boundary between the first row and the secondrow.
 35. The product display system of claim 34 wherein a pull membercomprises an elongated section which rests within the pull memberchannel; a rear product engagement section which is connected to therear of the elongated section; and a front pull section, connected tothe front of the elongated section, such that the front pull section maybe pulled outwards away from the front edge of the display shelf,thereby causing the rear product engagement section to engage therearmost product in the row.
 36. The product display system of claim 34wherein the first display base section has a top surface; and a seconddisplay base section overlaps the first side edge of the first displaybase section, thereby extending the display base area.
 37. The productdisplay system of claim 34 further comprising at least one front stoppositioned in proximity to the front edge of a row, such that the frontstop may engage a portion of the first product in the row therebyrestraining the product in the row.
 38. The display base of claim 34further comprising a plurality of pre-formed bend markings so that basecan be bent along a selected bend marking.
 39. The display base of claim34 further comprising a spring loaded rear engagement member positionedin the first row, such that the rear engagement member pushes the firstmerchandise item toward the front of the display shelf.
 40. The displaybase of claim 34 further comprising an active alignment devicepositioned in the first row, such that the active alignment devicepushes the first merchandise item toward the front of the display shelf.41. The display base of claim 40 wherein the active alignment devicecomprises a spring means.
 42. The display base of claim 40 wherein theactive alignment device comprises an elastic member.
 43. The displaybase of claim 34 further comprising a first display shelf sectioncomprising a first snap feature along the first side edge, and a secondsnap feature along the second side edge; and a second display shelfsection comprising a first snap feature along the first side edge, and asecond snap feature along the second side edge, such that the first snapfeature of the first base section may snap over the second snap featureof the second base section.
 44. The display base of claim 34 furthercomprising a front stop element which may be positioned in proximity tothe front edge of the display base, the front stop element comprising afront retention member, such that the front retention member may engagean item on the display base to prevent the item from inadvertently beingpushed or pulled off of the front of the display base; a base attachedto the front retention member and positioned under the display base; anda retaining lip integral to the base, such that the retaining lipengages slots provided in the bottom portions of a plurality of supportridges on the display base.
 45. The display base of claim 34 wherein thefirst row comprises a first divider removably positioned between a firstridge and a second ridge; and a second divider removably positionedbetween a third ridge and a fourth ridge.
 46. The display base of claim34 wherein the first divider and the second divider further comprise abase; and a partition member integral to the base, such that thepartition member is narrower than the base unit, and such that thepartition member is positioned to one side of the midpoint of the base,and such that the first divider and second divider may each bepositioned with the partition member closer to the other divider orfurther from the other divider, thereby permitting the row width to beadjusted by the various orientations of the first divider and the seconddivider.
 47. A product display base section for use in manually aligningmerchandise on a display shelf, the display base section comprising: abottom surface, such that the display base may be placed on the displayshelf, and at least a portion of the bottom surface is in contact withthe display shelf; a front edge; a first side edge; a first snap featurealong the first side edge; a second side edge; a second snap featurealong the second side edge; a rear edge; a plurality of merchandisesupport ridges, including a first merchandise support ridge and a secondmerchandise support ridge, such that the merchandise support ridgesextend from the proximity of the front edge to the proximity of the rearedge; and at least one pull member channel located between the firstmerchandise support ridge and the second merchandise support ridge, suchthat a portion of a pull member may be placed in the channel undermerchandise supported by the first merchandise support ridge and thesecond merchandise support ridge